Trains Long Gone
by Marcus Reyner
Summary: <html><head></head>Nikolai of Riga embarks on a journey to find a friend of a girl he's just met, in order to garner favor in her home station of Polis. Along this journey, he must overcome his family's legacy of shame.</html>
1. This Is The World We Live In

_**CLICK**_

Nikolai pushed the cylinder on his revolver shut. 4 rounds left. Then all he had was his knife. _Der'mo_. He needed to find a new gun. He had about 48 military-grade rounds, maybe he could get a Bastard, at least, if he bartered well. But then he'd have no ammo for it. He sighed, and scratched his scar, a gift from a knife fight with a wandering bandit a few years ago. The knife had almost taken his eye out, just missing it by inches. All because the bandit wanted some food.

Speaking of which, he was hungry. He rummaged around in the pack of the man he had just killed, and found a sausage. Did he dare warm it up?

He pondered the consequences of starting a fire in the uncharted section of the tunnels. Perhaps he should wait to get back to a station. His stomach groaned, whining for sustenance. He ate the sausage raw, probably not a good idea, but he had to eat.

_**SNAP**_

Nikolai turned, punching his revolver out to the noise, finger on the trigger, ready to fire.

"Who's there?" he barked, not really a question.

"Who are you? You're not Kristoff!" a feminine voice responded.

Nikolai felt a pang of guilt rack his stomach. Kristoff must have been the man he killed.

"I just killed a man who attacked me with a knife, it may be Kristoff. I am sorry for your loss if it is. I'm going to turn on my flashlight, so you can see if it is him." It was the least Nikolai could do, offer closure to the poor girl.

He turned his light on, pointing it in the direction of the sound. It WAS a girl, if the slender figure was anything to go by, about his age by the sound of the voice, only slightly muffled by the gas mask she wore. He let the light linger on her for a few seconds, taking in the sight of a pretty girl for later, a rare opportunity in this world. He turned the light to the dead man before she caught on to what he was doing, at least he hoped she didn't realize.

"Is this him?" Nikolai asked.

She came close to him. She smelled nice, which was to say she didn't smell bad. She had a hint of perfume, too. Kristoff must have been a romantic partner, perfume was rare these days. Another pang of guilt. As she crouched down, Nikolai took the opportunity to take in her figure again.

"Nyet. It's not him." she said, after a few seconds of examining the corpse. Nikolai looked away quickly as she stood up and turned around. Though politeness didn't matter much anymore, Nikolai took pride in his civility.

"Don't think I didn't see you staring." she said, not really scolding him.

"Sorry." he whispered, ashamed for some reason.

"Well, I'm sorry I startled you. Thanks for not shooting me." she said, and sighed.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me find him. But I can offer payment. 100 military grade bullets." she said.

"How do I know you can pay?" Nikolai asked, skeptical.

"My father was a member of SOBR before the war, and he hoarded bullets when the missiles started flying. I can take you to meet him, back at Polis. We have to arm ourselves, anyways. Unless you have a rifle hidden somewhere." she said.

Nikolai pondered this offer. He didn't have much better to do than search for a probably dead man with a pretty girl, he needed some spending money, and most of all, he needed a rifle.

"Fine, but you're paying for the rifle. And I need 50 bullets up front." he said.

"Deal."

"Then let's head for Polis to see your father." he said.


	2. Polis

"So, what is your name?" Nikolai asked quietly.

"Anna." she whispered, without looking back at him. She led him through the metro tunnels swiftly and almost silently.

Polis Station's door loomed in front of them before long.

"Anna! Where have you been? Your father is about to send out a squad of men looking for you!" One of the guards said mirthfully.

"Yeah, he's foaming at the mouth. You're in for a lecture, Anna." the other one said, shaking his head.

"Who's this? Your new boyfriend? Is this the legendary Kristoff?" the first one asked, lifting his chin to Nikolai.

"Nyet, this is... Uh..." Anna started, trailing off, probably realizing she should have asked Nikolai his name.

"I am Nikolai, of Riga. I was simply-" Nikolai started.

"Whatever, bro, I don't need to hear your life story. If Anna says you're okay, you're okay." The first guard said, waving the pair in.

Polis was big, and clean. Bigger than any station Nikolai had ever been in, which admittedly, wasn't a large number.

"It's not that great, Nikolai, close your mouth." Anna said derisively.

Nikolai hadn't even noticed his jaw had dropped.

"Do you have a rifle in mind, Nik?" Anna asked.

"What can you get me?"

"Anything you need. Of course, it will only be on loan."

"What do you mean?" Nikolai asked.

Anna smirked.

"My father is the lead trader in this station." she said.

"Well then, what do you you have?"

"We have a few 2012s, some regular Kalashes, a few Uboynegs, and a ton of Duplets and revolvers. We even have a belt-fed automatic shotgun, but Papa probably wouldn't give that up, no matter what. He's still working on it, it needs a better extractor, keeps jamming. It's made from a DShK he found while-"

Nikolai zoned out again, awestruck by the majestic size of the station.

"You're not even listening." Anna said, pouting.

"I'm sorry. It's just, this place is so huge! I've never seen anywhere like it!" Nikolai said. "I guess I can make do with a regular Kalash."

"Well, I'm sure that will be fine. I'm going to take my 2012."

"Anna!" a warm voice rung out above the noise of the market.

"Papa!" she shouted, running towards an older, bearded man.

"You had me worried sick! Where were you?" the man asked.

"I told you I was going to meet Kristoff!" she replied.

"You've been gone for almost the whole day!" he said, hugging her close.

The man looked up at Nikolai.

"Is this him? He's not what I expected. That scar..." he said, trailing off.

"Are you calling me shallow, Papa?" Anna asked, scolding him.

"Nyet, nyet, my little flower, I just meant-"

"He's not Kristoff, Papa, it's okay." Anna said, interrupting him. "This is Nikolai. Nikolai, this is my father, Gregori."

Nikolai extended his hand, but Gregori ignored it.

"Well, then, where is Kristoff?" he asked.

"I don't know. That's why Nikolai is here. We're going back out to find him." Anna answered.

"Anna, you can't go out there again, you just got back!" Gregori scolded.

"Papa, I'm 22 years old! I can take care of myself!" Anna whined.

"How are you going to pay this man, then? Or arm him? I don't see a rifle." Gregori said sternly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Anna bit her lip and furrowed her brow.

"Alright. When can I go?" She asked.

Gregori smiled.

"Tomorrow morning. Kristoff can wait. From what you tell me about him, he can take care of himself if he's still alive. And if he's dead already, he can wait forever. Now go get dressed for company, Miss Omelchuk is coming over for dinner and I want you to look nice. Put on one of those pretty dresses I bought you."

"Papa, what about my guest?" Anna asked, impatient.

"He can come to dinner as well, but he can't wear one of your pretty dresses. Now go get dressed!" Gregori said, leading her to what must have been her room.

As he closed the door, he turned to Nikolai.

"I'm just a simple man, Nikolai. A father who loves his daughter. I may have a lot of money, but that's worthless without people who love you, isn't it?"

Nikolai looked away, not sure what to say. When he looked back, Gregori was suddenly in his face, his eyes intense and serious.

"What I'm trying to say is that if you scam or hurt my daughter in any way, and if she doesn't come back within two days, I will send people to find you and bring you to me. I don't care if you have to drag her back screaming and kicking, if I have to look for you, you will wish you had never been born. Am I clear, Nikolai?"

"Crystal, sir." Nikolai replied, trying his hardest to keep his voice from cracking in fear. Gregori reminded him of an old teacher he had learned from back in Riga, a hard man who had served in the VDV in his prime.

"Good, now go clean yourself up for dinner. Eat well, because tomorrow you're leaving first thing in the morning."


	3. Dinner

Nikolai finished washing his face and looked in the mirror. He could still back out. He didn't have to do this. He had no connection to these people. He could get money somewhere else, without traipsing around the uncharted tunnels of the metro looking for a dead man. He had heard nasty rumors about the tunnels. Stories of groups of men slaughtered without firing a shot, a whole station flooded by giant rats. But he had nowhere else to go. Riga didn't want him.

But something in him wanted to stay the course. Maybe, just maybe, if he found this lost man, he could find a home here in Polis. Maybe he could find some place to settle down, even if it wasn't Polis, his journey could find him a home.

There was a knock on the doorway.

"Nikolai, dinner is ready." Anna said.

He turned to face her. She was wearing a flower-pattern dress now. She was very pretty out of the combat suit, with dark brown hair and green eyes.

"Nikolai, you're staring, have you never seen a girl in a dress before?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry. Not for a long time." he said sheepishly.

Dinner was a beef stew with mushroom vodka. Gregori kept smiling towards Miss Omelchuk throughout the dinner, Anna glowering every time he did. Eventually she stood up to leave.

"Anna, get back here!" Gregori shouted.

"Nyet, Papa. I'm going to go to bed, so the morning comes sooner." she said, without looking back at him. Nikolai stared at the ceiling, stirring his stew absent-mindedly.

"I'm sorry, Clara" Gregori said to Miss Omelchuk. "She isn't normally like this. She's just anxious to find her boyfriend."

Miss Omelchuk looked confused, and shot Nikolai a look.

"Who is this, then?" she asked.

"Nikolai, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"I'm a... A friend. My name is Nikolai."

Anna reappeared in the doorway in her combat suit, carrying a Kalash in her hands, with a 2012 slung across her back.

"Nikolai, we're leaving now." she ordered, throwing him the weapon.

"Anna, what do you think you're doing?" Gregori asked, almost shouting.

"I'm finding Kristoff, Papa." she said calmly.

"You sit down!" Gregori ordered, standing from his chair.

Anna pointed her rifle at him.

"Nyet, Papa. I'm leaving." she said. "Sit down and finish your dinner."

Gregori froze, stunned that his own flesh and blood would threaten him like that.

"Anna-" Nikolai began, but she turned the gun on him.

"I don't need you, don't try to stop me. If you don't want to go, give Papa his rifle back when I leave. I just thought I'd do a wandering bum a favor."

Nikolai bit his lip.

"Nyet. I'm coming with you. I need the rifle." Nikolai said, sighing in defeat.

"Price has changed, too. You get two magazines of military-grade, and you can have two

magazines of dirty." Anna said curtly.

"I want the ammunition now, then." he replied.

"Fine." she said, tossing him two magazines. "You'll get the rest when we leave."

"And I want an optic. Preferably now." he said.

Anna pondered the request.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"A red dot sight." he replied. "A Kobra"

"We don't have any, but Kristoff may have one."

"Fine." he said, standing from his chair.

"I'll pay you four magazines of military-grade to stop her!" Gregori pleaded. "Nyet, five magazines!"

Nikolai shook his head.

"Nyet, Gregori, as much as I appreciate the offer, I want to make a good impression on the people of Polis, and I can't do that by selling my first client out to a higher bidder. I already promised her I would help her find Kristoff. You must understand."

Gregori slumped down in his chair, defeated.

"I understand." he sighed, then looked at his daughter angrily. "Get out of here."

The pair left.


	4. Daddy Issues

"You know, you probably should have waited." Nikolai said. "Your father seemed pretty pissed."

"He'll get over it." Anna replied, waving to a passing a guard, and smiling falsely.

The guard opened the door out of the station.

"You don't like him much, why is that?"

"He sheltered me." Anna answered, stepping outside the door.

Nikolai followed her.

"I'd have given anything to have been sheltered." he said.

"It's boring, trust me."

"Maybe, but it's better than being hated."

"Oh, I'm hated, don't you think I'm not. Papa gives me anything I want, spoils me. How jealous do you think the other kids at school were? Sure, they never did anything, but I could feel their anger. I knew they despised me."

Nikolai looked back at the guard as he closed the door. Even from here, he could tell the guard was staring at Anna as she walked away, staring at her the same way Nikolai had when he first met her.

"That guard doesn't hate you." Nikolai said.

"That's because he wants to sleep with me. But if I weren't pretty? He'd hate my guts."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you? You won't accept that your life is pretty good." Nikolai said, scolding a bit.

She turned, and grabbed Nikolai by the neck, shoving him against the wall with an unexpected strength.

"Listen, Nikolai, I didn't allow you to tag along because I wanted a fucking life lesson, okay? I brought you along to help me find my boyfriend! If you're going to act like you're my father, you can go back to Polis and hang with him!" she growled.

"Nyet, I can't do that, I promised him I'd bring you back safely."

Anna rolled her eyes.

"Great."

She turned and started walking again, a little faster than before. Nikolai followed her.

"Why don't you just get lost and leave me alone?" she asked.

"Other than the promise to your father, I need you to pay me." he replied.

"I gave you your clean rounds up front."

"Nyet, you didn't. You gave me two half-dirty magazines and just put the clean ones in the window. Don't try to scam me, Anna." He said sternly.

She stopped and sighed.

"Fine, you can tag along."

The next few minutes were spent in silence as they walked.

"So, Nikolai, I told you about my daddy issues and my wonderful childhood, why don't you tell me about your sad, despicable childhood with your parents? Why are you so haunted?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well, my father was actually born in America, long before the war. He was the only generation of my family to be born there. He came back in 2012, right before the motherland closed her borders and before the new American president declared war on her. He met my mother, and they conceived me. Right after I was born, war was declared, and my father joined the infantry. But right before he was deployed, he had a change of heart and shot himself in the foot. Then the missiles flew. He found me under my mother's corpse in a pile of rubble and brought me to Riga. But, Riga had a lot of his old comrades... They never let him forget his cowardice."

Anna looked back sympathetically.

"I'm sorry." she said.

"They called me sukha's son. That was pretty much all they did, but it wears you down, year after year. Then I got into that fight. It was a roaming bandit who just wanted some food. When I refused to give him any, he came at me with a knife. That's where I got this." he continued, touching his scar.

"Dad called me a big, stupid mudoeb. He said I should have given the man some food. I don't know why I got so angry at that, but I did. So I said he was a kopcik, said he would have let the man slit his throat and walk all over him just to avoid having to fight. He never looked at me the same after that. So I left." He finished.

Anna came close to Nikolai, and patted him on the back.

"Well, I'm sure once we get to Riga you can make amends." she said, almost in a whisper.

"We're going to Riga?" Nikolai asked, shocked. "I can't go back to Riga, I grew up there!"


	5. Fallen Skies

"Why are we going to Riga?" Nikolai asked.

"Because Kristoff has friends there. They might know where we should look for him." Anna said coldly, turning from Nikolai.

"But..."

"If you don't want to go, give me my ammunition back and leave. You can keep the rifle, I don't need the weight."

Nikolai sighed. She had him by the balls. He needed this job.

"Alright. Let's go. I'll lead."

"How chivalrous." Anna said sarcastically.

"Don't mock me, Anna. I'm helping you." Nikolai scolded. "You are asking for quite a lot. It's quite a journey to Riga."

"We can make it in half a day if we're quick." she said. "So let's go!"

Nikolai shook his head in disbelief.

"Alright."

The next hour was spent in silence as the pair trudged towards Riga.

"Nikolai, have you ever been to the surface?" Anna asked. "I mean, after the missiles flew."

"Once. After I left Riga, I went to the wreckage my father found me under. It's not a place I want to visit again."

"Did you see the stars?"

"Nyet. I've only heard of stars in books and tales."

"I saw them once. I hear that before the war, it was hard to see the stars in Moscow, because there were so many other lights. But I saw them clearly. They were beautiful."

"How did you get to go to the surface? I'd have thought your father would have kept you from going."

"Kristoff took me there."

"How romantic." Nikolai droned sarcastically.

Anna smiled.

"It was."


	6. A Boy And His Dad

The doors of Riga station glowed from a campfire the guards had gathered around.

"Hey!" Nikolai shouted, waving to the guards as he and Anna drew near.

The guards looked up from their drinks, and one with a dog pointed to Nikolai.

"Hey! Nik! It's you, isn't it! I'd recognize your ugly mug anytime! Where have you been?" he shouted, walking over to Nikolai.

"Vic!" Nikolai shouted back cheerfully. "You forgetful son of a bitch, I told you I was headed to find fortune!"

"Well, guess that didn't work out, did it?" Victor said, chuckling. Then he noticed Anna. "What's her name, Nikolai, and does she have a sister for me?"

"Her name is Anna, and she can speak for herself." Anna said, poking her finger into Victor's chest.

"Ooh, I like her." Victor said, grinning.

Victor's dog ran up and jumped on Nikolai's chest and started licking his face, almost knocking him down.

"Ah, Blood, I missed you, too." Nikolai said, rubbing the dog's head and scratching him behind the ears.

"So what brings you back, Nikolai?" Victor asked.

"Business." Nikolai said, pointing to Anna. "She's looking for her boyfriend. His name is Kristoff, you know him?"

"Nyet, never heard of him." Victor said, shrugging.

"I know who to talk to, Nikolai. Why don't you go catch up with your father?" Anna asked.

A shadow fell over Victor's face.

"Nikolai... About your father... He, uh... He killed himself a few days after you left. I'm sorry, bro."

Nikolai felt the tears building up.

"Oh."

"No one has moved in since. He left a... A note and some items for you, in case you came back."

It was getting harder to fight the tears.

"I left them in your room, under the floorboards." Victor said.

Nikolai looked to Anna.

"Go talk to your people. I'll meet you back here in 15 minutes." he told her.

"Alright." she said, nodding.

Nikolai headed back to his old home.

He tried to ignore the holes from the buckshot that decorated the walls as he went to his room. Under the floorboards was a leather bag, tied shut with dogtags. His father's dogtags. Inside the bag were a few military rations, a box of military-grade rounds, and a pistol. On the top of the pile was a framed picture of his father, and his mother, holding Nikolai as a baby, from before the war.

Nikolai started crying then, lying on the floor and curling up into a ball.

A while later, he stopped and picked himself up. He didn't have time to cry right now.

He wiped his face clean, tied the dogtags around the stock of his rifle and put the rest of the bag's contents in his pack.

"Are you okay, Nikolai?" Anna asked, from the doorway.

"How long have you been there?" Nikolai asked, embarrassed.

"Long enough. Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Nikolai asked.

"The surface." Anna said, turning to leave.


End file.
